Easy Vegan Breakfasts: Pumpkin Spice Energy Bites

Yes, I am jumping on the pumpkin spice bandwagon. I couldn’t resist doing a pumpkin recipe (it is fall after all) and if you do a sweet pumpkin recipe, you have to add pumpkin pie spice, right? This kind of reminds me of the time I accidentally wore the school colors on spirit day when I was in high school and I had to spend the whole day explaining to everyone that no, I didn’t have school spirit, and that the navy blue t-shirt I was wearing was just a coincidence.

“Hey Kiersten, do we have a quiz today in biology?”

“I DIDN’T MEAN TO WEAR THIS SHIRT TODAY! IT WAS AN ACCIDENT! I HATE THIS SCHOOL!”

That was the worst day.

Sometimes I throw things together just to eat, not really intending to blog about it; this is one of those recipes. I bought an adorable little pie pumpkin and made puree with it for another recipe and had just a little bit left, so I added a little almond butter and maple syrup, folded in oats and raisins and pepitas, put in a little sprinkle-sprinkle of pumpkin pie spice, and rolled the mixture into balls. Random! But they were so good, I decided they were definitely worthy of sharing.

In addition to being delicious, these will also give you energy. You’ll have the strength of a bull, the reflexes of a cat, and the mental acuity of one of those really smart chimpanzees. Eat these Pumpkin Spice Energy Bites and you will crush your enemies and run a 5K afterwards.

Or not. (Probably not.) Energy bites aren’t exactly Red Bull. But they’re healthy and get you over that mid-afternoon hump better than a bag of M&Ms or potato chips. Every ingredient in these energy bites is good for you—maple syrup is rich in manganese and zinc, pumpkin is full of fiber and Vitamin A, pepitas are high in magnesium, etc. And then there’s the pumpkin spice too, which is full of deliciousness.

Pumpkin Spice Energy Bites

Spiced energy bites made with pumpkin, almond butter, oats, pepitas, and raisins.

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes
Yield: 25-30 energy bites

Ingredients

1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 cup almond butter
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 1/3 cup rolled oats
1/3 cup pepitas
1/3 cup raisins
2 tbsp chia seeds

Instructions

Combine the pumpkin puree, almond butter, maple syrup, and pumpkin pie spice in a large bowl and stir until smooth.
Fold in the rolled oats, pepitas, raisins, and chia seeds. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 2 hours, or until the mixture is chilled and easy to work with.
Roll the mixture into balls. (If you have a small cookie dough scoop, that works perfectly!) Store the balls in the refrigerator or freeze and thaw for a few minutes before eating.